DIY tilt/shift lens

I wanted to use the shallow depth of field effects from using a tilt/shift lens for some video shots, but at around £1000 I just couldn't justify buying one. So I decided to make my own DIY version, at a fraction of the price. In fact it didn't cost me anything, as I had all of the components already.

The main parts used -
Mamiya 645 45mm lens
An old aluminium straight flash bracket
3 pieces of aluminium L-section
An aluminium lens mounting plate
Canon EF body cap
Plastic 'bellows' - I used one from an old tripod head, but many people use the gaitor from a car steering rack

I started off with a Mamiya 45mm lens, originally for an old 645 medium format camera that has long been consigned to the cupboard of old film cameras that I no longer use. I chose this medium format lens because it offered a large image circle to allow me to use plenty of tilt/shift movement without the image darkening towards the edges. The Mamiya 645 also has a flange focal distance of over 60mm (compared to the 44mm of a Canon EF mount), so I could mount the lens far enough away from the camera to allow movement.
This lens is mounted on a lens plate from an old field camera, with the plastic 'bellows' attached to the back of the lens. This has an old Canon EF body cap with the centre cut out to attach it to the camera.
The whole assembly is mounted onto a bracket made from some L-section aluminium, with large tightening screws to allow for the tilting movement. This is finally attached to an old straight flash bracket, to allow back and forward movement to give some focusing control.

You can see the effect in some of the shots in the Videos section such as here.

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